This invention relates generally to a commercial refrigerator door and, more particularly, to a device for releasably holding the door in an open position relative to a refrigerated display cabinet.
Commercial refrigerator doors commonly comprise a sturdy frame and a plurality of spaced glass panes and, as a result, are relatively heavy. Hold-open devices for such doors are disclosed in Heaney U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,742 and Kaspar U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,096. The Heaney hold-open device also forms part of a door stop. It requires several components and must be very strong and structurally sound in order to stop the heavy door in its fully open position. The hold-open device disclosed in the Kaspar patent also requires several components and is rather complex.
Niekrasz U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,086 discloses a commercial refrigerator door with a relatively simple hold-open device. That device, however, must be moved manually between operative and inoperative positions and does not operate automatically as an incident to swinging the door.